A Systematic Review of the Role of Land Use, Transport, and Energy-Environment Integration in Shaping Sustainable Cities

Abstract

Land use, transport, and energy-environment integration (LUTEI) is receiving considerable attention as an elaborate approach to improving urban resilience. Research evidence on this multidisciplinary topic tends to be fragmented, hindering constructive analysis of its role in shaping sustainable cities. This paper addresses this by undertaking a holistic systematic review to consolidate diverse perspectives. The analysis of 195 reviewed papers identified four main clusters of knowledge that include methodological approaches, policy instruments, urban design elements, and impacts of interventions. The analysis revealed that a growing body of literature is increasingly focused on improving accessibility planning, transit-oriented development, and policy integration to achieve sustainable and healthy transport as a vital element of resilience in cities. The review found, however, that the integration of environment and energy into land use and transport models is still at a nascent stage of development and has largely been overlooked in traditional LUTI models. This can lead to unreliable assessments of the impacts of low-carbon mobility solutions, emerging green transport technologies, and long-term changes in energy consumption affecting sustainable mobility futures. This paper concludes by connecting LUTEI dimensions to the UN’s sustainable development goals (SDG), outlining future directions to ignite meaningful research on the topic and providing a transparent path for decision-makers to adopt LUTEI-informed planning.